


Of Awakenings & Embraces

by ashgemini



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Black Panther Epilogue, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, M/M, Post Black Panther
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 16:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13955406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashgemini/pseuds/ashgemini
Summary: When Bucky Barnes wakes up from cryo for the 217th time, there's one noticeable difference from all of the times prior. He's warm.





	Of Awakenings & Embraces

            When Sergeant James Buchannan Barnes woke from being cryogenically frozen for the 217th time, there was one noticeable difference from the 216 times prior to this.

            He was _warm._

            For a moment, that was the only thing he could focus on. His mind was a deadly weapon, honed by Hydra over the course of many decades. He wasn’t supposed to hesitate, he was supposed to wake up fully alert, ready to shoot and fight and kill. If only Hydra’s enemies had known that a little warmth was all that it took to incapacitate the Asset, perhaps the Soviet Union would’ve fallen much sooner. Bucky’s sluggish brain tried to process his surroundings. He wasn’t in a lab, just a room. He wasn’t restrained either. The surface under him was warm and soft, not harsh metal like usual. He glanced around and panic spiked through him when he looked at his left shoulder.

            The arm was gone, and suddenly it started to come back.

            “Are you sure about this?” Steve had asked.

            _No,_ Bucky had wanted to scream, _please don’t put me back in that thing_. But had had assured Steve that this was what was best, for him and for everyone else.

            _Steve._ Where was Steve anyway? The panic flared back up and Bucky struggled to suppress it. Getting to his feet, Bucky fought back the darkness that swirled around the edges of his vision. He was a super soldier, dammit, standing up wasn’t supposed to make him dizzy.

            The light outside was so bright it was nearly blinding and Bucky recoiled in shock when he saw his surroundings. He was by a river somewhere, _Wakanda_ , he remembered suddenly. Remembering things, anything really, was a wonderful feeling, one he knew would take some time to get used to.

            Three boys were running off into the woods as Bucky walked out of the hut and towards the lone figure, a woman who was surveying the water.

            “Good morning, Sergeant Barnes,” she said, and Bucky was shocked by how young she was. Her accent was unfamiliar, which was strange for Bucky. He had been so many places that he wasn’t sure there were any accents left for him to be unfamiliar with.

            “Bucky,” he said, voice hoarse from lack of use, scraping his throat as he spoke. It felt good to use that name again, it was what Steve had called him.

            She nodded approvingly at that, “How are you feeling?” she asked.

            “Good,” he said, pausing and thinking about it. He did feel good, better than he had felt in a very very long time, “Thank you.”

            “Come,” she said, “Much more for you to learn.” She turned away from the water and begun to walk back towards the huts, but he stayed and surveyed the water. It was beautiful here, it was the most beautiful place he had ever been. Bucky could’ve stayed here for hours, but he turned to follow the girl, jogging to catch up with her.

            “Who are you?” he asked bluntly, subtlety had never been his strong suit.

            “I am Shuri, head of the Wakanda Science Department,” she told him, seemingly unbothered by his curtness.

            He nodded at her and they walked in silence for several moments before he spoke again, “Where’s Steve?” he asked, trying to keep his desperation out of his voice.

            “Captain Rogers is in the capitol with T’Challa, we felt it was best for you to recover outside of the city,” she sounded nervous, but was doing a good job of hiding it. If Bucky wasn’t trained to detect any sort of weakness, he wouldn’t have noticed it at all. “Because-”

            “Because I might hurt someone,” said Bucky, cutting her off. She nodded apologetically and he said “Why did they let you come out here, then?”

            She laughed, warm and bright in the hot air, “I can take care of myself, Bucky.”

            He cracked a smile, he liked this girl almost in spite of himself. She reminded him of that skinny kid from Brooklyn, bold as brass with no regard for what anyone else thought she couldn’t do. Brooklyn felt like a lifetime ago, and Bucky thought that in a way, it was. Time for a normal life to have been fully lived.

            He followed her in silence to a large aircraft, its design unlike anything Bucky had ever seen. Shuri stopped just before entering it and turned to face him, “Would you like a new arm?” she asked.

            He furrowed his brow at her, “Well I certainly don’t want the old one back,” the arm had never been truly a part of him, the damned star plastered on his bicep, marking the arm as not belonging to him.

            “That’s not what I mean,” she said, reaching out a small hand to touch his flesh and blood shoulder, “I’ve built a new arm for you, but if you’d rather not have one, I won’t be offended.”

            Bucky had the distinct impression that there was something about this that he wasn’t getting.

            She took in his confused expression and smiled at him, “I thought maybe it was time that somebody asked you what you wanted.”

            Oh. “Th-” he started and felt the words catch in his throat, “Thank you,” he said, quieter than he had intended. “I’d like the arm,” he said simply.

            Shuri nodded again and led him onto the ship, motioning for him to take a seat next to her as she sat in the pilot’s seat. He ran a hand through his hair after he took a seat, it was smooth and clean, the top layer tied back into a bun. He wondered who had done that, if it had been Shuri.

            “Can I see Steve?” Bucky asked, sounding eager even to his own ears.

            “Yes, once we’ve attached the arm I will take you to him,” she said, starting up the ship with a series of smooth, practiced motions. “May I ask you something, Bucky?”

            “You gave me my mind back, you can ask anything you’d like,” he told her.

            “Who is Captain Rogers to you?” she said.

            Bucky was quiet for a while, staring out the window at the sweeping landscape. “Steve has always been a part of me. Losing Steve was harder than losing the arm was,” he said. “We’ve always had each other, in Brooklyn, during the war, and even now.”

            “You love him,” Shuri said.

            It didn’t sound like a question, but Bucky answered it anyway, “Yes.” He didn’t go on, there was nothing else to say, of course he loved Steve.

            “You are in love with him too, aren’t you?” she asked.

            “Yes,” Bucky said again, apprehension rising in his chest slightly.

            “Does he know?” she said, steering the ship towards a ridge of mountains.

            “Yes,” Bucky said for the third time. He felt like he was going to cry. Bucky Barnes was a soldier and then an assassin, he had seen things that would make normal people shit their pants. Bucky Barnes did not cry.

            “Ah,” Shuri said, “You and Captain Rogers are not just best friends reunited, are you?”

            Bucky hesitated, not sure how much he could reveal to this girl. Fuck it, if it came to a fight he was pretty sure he could take her, “We’ve been…together for a long time.” Saying they were together still felt wrong, still felt like the taboo it had been all the way back in the 40s. But it was true, or at least as true as anything could come to the way Bucky felt for Steve, and for the way he hoped Steve felt for him.

            “Would you like to see him before we attach your arm?” Shuri said and Bucky felt an immeasurable swell of gratitude rising in his chest. Of everything she had given him, control over his mind, a new arm, this was the one he was most thankful for.

            “Yes,” he said. Bucky wanted to tell her how much this meant, but one glance over at her and the slight smile on her face told him that she understood, “Thank you,” he added, quietly.

            The ship landed smoothly and Bucky followed Shuri out of the ship and into the palace. It was beautiful here as well, and Bucky knew that he would care later. But right now, all he wanted was to see Steve. They entered what looked to be a throne room, windows covered the wall behind the throne, bathing the room in golden afternoon light. T’Challa was standing next to the throne, deep in conversation with Steve. He had a beard now, Bucky realized with a start. That was different. He wasn’t dressed like Captain America, in jeans and a faded t-shirt, he just looked like Steve.

            Shuri darted across the room to T’Challa and the two of them performed some sort of elaborate handshake. Siblings, Bucky realized. He should’ve seen the resemblance sooner. He wanted to run across the room to Steve, but he found that his legs wouldn’t move.

            Steve was walking towards him, slowly, as though Bucky was an animal he didn’t want to spook, “Hey Bucky,” he said and those two words were enough to kick start Bucky’s brain. He ran the next few paces forward just as Steve ran to meet him.

            Their hug was unbalanced because of Bucky’s missing arm, but he pulled Steve as close as he could with his good arm. He tried to put 90 years worth of feeling into that hug. Tried to say, _I’m sorry, I missed you, I love you so much_. He wasn’t sure if Steve understood, but when he pulled back to look at Steve’s face, Bucky knew that Steve understood.

            Steve leaned in just as Bucky did the same and their lips met. Bucky could feel Steve’s beard scratching at his cheeks. Distantly, he could hear Shuri give a yell of approval and T’Challa’s laugh, but that was all background noise. All that mattered right now was Steve.

            “I missed you, punk,” said Bucky when they finally parted.

            “I missed you too, jerk,” said Steve, without missing a beat.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm thinking of adding another chapter, so please let me know if you'd be interested in that!


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